1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a method and system to automatically convert a file format and to perform a task through an image forming apparatus, and an image forming apparatus used in the same. More particularly, the present general inventive concept relates to a method and system to automatically convert a format of a file stored in an image forming apparatus into data that is compatible with a task a user wants to execute and to execute the task, and an image forming apparatus used in the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, image forming apparatuses include a storage device having a high storage capacity, such as a hard disk, to store data relating to an image forming task. The image forming apparatuses include printers, photocopiers, facsimile machines, and combination apparatuses. The image forming apparatuses store different formats of data depending on different tasks to be executed based on the data. For example, for printing tasks, HCT compression files, Jbig compression files, and LZW compression files are stored. For facsimile tasks, MMR compression files, MR compression files, MH compression files, and Jbig compression files are stored. For e-mailing tasks, Jpeg files, Tiff files, and BMP (bitmap) files are stored.
For example, if a user wants to send a document received through a facsimile machine via e-mail, the user prints the document received through the facsimile machine, scans the printed document, and transmits a scanned image file via e-mail. That is, the document received through the facsimile machine can not be directly transmitted via e-mail because the formats of facsimile and e-mail data are not the same.
As described above, to use a specific file stored in a storage device for a different task, the specific file has to be printed, scanned, and then used for the task. However, this causes degradation of image quality because an original file is not used, and also printing paper and developer, such as ink and toner, are likely to be wasted.